Push-to-talk (PTT) devices are commonly employed by public safety personnel, air traffic controllers, emergency workers, construction site workers, and others who need to be in constant and readily available voice communication. PTT, also known as press-to-transmit, is a method of communicating using half-duplex communication lines. A PTT button may be pressed to switch a device from a voice reception mode to a transmit-mode. For example, one operator may depress the PTT button on her device and speak into the device's microphone. The speech is converted into an appropriate format and transmitted to one or more other devices, where the operators of those other devices hear the first operator speak through their device's speaker.
Oftentimes requiring an individual to push an actual PTT button may be extremely difficult or unsafe. For example, a police officer's hands may be occupied, and pushing the PTT button may be unsafe. Consider a situation where an officer needs to hold a rifle with both hands and needs to push an actual PTT button on their radio. Taking a hand off of the rifle may put the officer's life in danger. Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for alleviating the above-mentioned unsafe condition.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.